Vibrator clamp means



Uct. 21, 1959 c. a. MATSON 3,473,765

VIBRATOR CLAMP MEANS Filed Oct. 25. 1967 INVENTOR.

C.G. MATSON United States Patent 0 3,473,765 VIBRATOR CLAMP MEANS CarlG. Matson, 401 E. Central Blvd., Kewanee, II]. 64143 Filed Oct. 25,1967, Ser. No. 678,064 Int. Cl. F16m 1/00 US. Cl. 248-14 3 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A vibrator mounting means in which a vibratorhaving conventional bifurcated legs for mounting on a web or the likemay be adapted for mounting on a pair of parallel members or rails bythe utilization of a pair of pivoted clamping elements or dogs mountedrespectively at least in part by the original clamping means of the legsand forcibly engageable with the rails so as to increase the versatilityof the vibrator and the manner in which it may be mounted.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Vibrators are of course well known in thefield of materials handling and are commonly employed to facilitate theflow, settling, discharge, loading etc. of fiowable material such ascoal, gravel, concrete, grain etc. by imparting vibrations to suchthings as chutes, hoppers, receptacles and the like. It is also known toequip the object to be vibrated with various types of mounting memberssuch as Webs, rails etc. to which the vibrator may be secured, often bysuitable clamping means and sometimes by simply welding the vibratortemporarily in place; although, the clamping type of mounting ispreferred because it enables the vibrator to be removed to anotherobject or to a different location on the same object.

Typical of a well known and conventional type of mounting is thatexemplified, for example, in such US. patents as those to E. F.Peterson, 3,134,272 and 3,237,- 505, in which the vibrator, essentiallya rotating-weight machine, has a body including a pair of spaced apartbifurcated leg means adapted to straddle and receive a web or the likerigid on the object to be vibrated, the legs being provided with opposedclamping screws capable of being tightened against opposite faces of theweb to secure the vibrator in place. Mounts of this type are more thanadequate in the majority of situations, but occasions arise in which theuse of a web mount, for one reason or another, is impossible orimpracticable, and resort must be had to other types of mounts, whichusually dictates the use of a vibrator of another but less eflicienttype.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore the principal object of thisinvention to provide an improved mounting means that will adapt aweb-mountable vibrator for mounting on another popular type of mount;namely, one that includes a pair of rails spaced apart in parallelismbut crosswise to the plane of a typical web mount, usually incorporatinga pair of mutually divergent rails presenting opposed bevel surfaces towhich the clamp forces are applied. The invention aims primarily atmeans useful in either converting existing vibrators of the web-mountedtype or as attachments to such vibrators so as to extend the field ofuse thereof beyond the web-mountable areas. Briefly and in general, thisobject is achieved by providing a pair of clamping dogs in the form ofbell cranks, the intermediate portion of each of which is designed to bereceived by the slot between the associated pair of bifurcated legs andto be pivotably mounted on either the usual clamping screws or othermeans, one arm of each bell crank being formed to engage one of themounting rails and the other carrying screw means engageable with thevibrator body to enable the user to rock the elements and thereby toexert opposed forces causing the dogs or elements to grip the rails andthus to securely mount the vibrator in place. Because of the mechanicaladvantage obtained by the combination of the force-multiplication of thebell-crank design and the bevels of the rails, substantially clampingforces are obtainable so that the vibrator is unlikely to loosen duringoperation. Further, the relationship of the elements or dogs to therails and vibrator body is such that even should the vibrator be looselymounted, as where the user may forget to tighten the screw means, theclamping arrangement prevents complete loss of the vibrator. Otherfeatures will become apparent as the description progresses.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevation showing arepresentative mounting arrangement;

FIG.2 is a fragmentary section on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial end view as seen along the line 33 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevation showing a releasing position of one ofthe clamp elements.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The vibrator selected for purposesof illustration is of a well-known type having a main steel body orcasing 10 within which an eccentric weight rotates about a central axis,indicated here at 12. This construction is typical of those disclosed inthe above-noted Peterson patents, as is that part of the body comprisinga lower elongated base means 14, usually of .much heavier steel than thecasing-like structure of the body 10 because it is the backbone of themounting arrangement. The terms lower and base are used here withreference to a representative mounting in which the vibrator is mountedin an upright position above a portion of the object to be vibrated, butit is clear that vibrators are mounted in a wide variety of positionsand the aforesaid terms are used for brevity and not by way oflimitation. A wall of an object to be vibrated is shown here at 16 andhas rigidly secured thereto, as by welding at 18, a pair of upwardlydivergent mounting members 20. The specific nature of these members isnot material here, because a large variety of equivalents members isknown. One characteristic of the members, however, which enables thepresent invention to be applied thereto, is that they are parallel andalso transverse to the median or radial plane through the vibrator body10 and normal to the weight axis 12, in which respect the members differfrom one well-known form of mounting member comprising a web or ribhaving coplanar mounting portions lying in the aforesaid median plane,such as in the Peterson patents above.

The base 14 has rigid therewith, preferably by integral or weldedconstruction, a pair of symmetrical leg means 22 and 24 spaced apartlengthwise or longitudinally of the base means 14 and of bifurcatedconstruction. The leg means 22 may be taken as typical, having a pair oflaterally spaced apart legs 26 and 28 which define between them adownwardly and longitudinally opening slot 30. The other leg means 24,has spaced apart legs defining a like slot 32 longitudinally alined orcoplanar with the slot 30. In the usual design, the slots 30 and 32adapt the vibrator to straddle a web or rib so that the vibrator may besecured thereto by known clamp means.

A typical clamp means is shown for the leg means 22 at 34, comprising apair of externally threaded bushings 36 and 38 threaded respectivelyinto threaded bores 40 and 42 formed respectively in the legs 26 and 28.The bushings are respectively internally threaded at 44 and 46 andrespectively carry coaxial or generally coaxial clamping screws 48 and50, again typical of the abovenoted Peterson patents. Each clampingscrew has a hardened inner end or nose and an outer end conventionallyshaped to receive a wrench, which will be clear from the drawingswithout further description. When the vibrator is mounted on aslot-received web or rib, the screws are turned in from each side andthe hardened screw noses bite into the web or rib to secure the vibratorin place. This result is obtained also at the other leg means 24, whichis similarly equipped with bushings and opposed screws, one of eachformer appearing respectively at 52 and 54.

To adapt a vibrator of the above type to mounting on members like thoseat 20, the invention provides a pair of clamping elements or dogs 56 and58 carried respectively by the leg means 22 and 24, or at opposite ends60 and 62 of the base means 14. These elements may be of identicalconstruction; although, they are reversely arranged so as to act inopposition on the mounting members 20, between which is a bracing orcompression bar 64.

The element 56 is in the form of a one-piece bell crank, having anintermediate ear or lug 66 and a pair of arms 68 and 70, the formerextending upwardly and having an interiorly threaded end in which iscarried a clamping screw means 72 and the latter projecting downwardlyas a wide lip including a bevelled nose 74 engageable with the outerside of the associated member 20. The ear or lug is coaxiallythrough-drilled and chamfered to provide opposite conical recesses 76which respectively receive the inner noses of the opposed clampingscrews 48 and 50 of the leg means 22, which screws are turned in justenough to fit the recesses 76 so as to rockably or pivotally mount theelement 56. Since the clamping screw 72 abuts the end 60 of the basemeans, it is clear that tightening this screw rocks the element 56clockwise so that the nose 74 of the lower arm 70 of the element clampsagainst the assoicated mounting member 20.

The other element 58 is of identical construction, having a mounting lugor ear 78 pivotally mounted by the opposed clamp screws 54 and havingupper and lower arms 80 and 82, the former of which carries a clampingscrew 82 engageable with the associated end 62 of the base means inopposition to the other clamping screw 72 and the latter beingengageable with the rail 20.

FIG. 4 illustrates the ease with which the vibrator may be removed fordetachment or for replacement at another location. The shape of eachelement is such that its screw 72 or 84 may be backed off to permitreverse rocking of the element so that its lip or lower arm 70 or 82easily clears the associated mount member 20.

One important feature of the invention resides in the ability of theclamping elements 56 and 58 to convert known vibrators for use withmount members such as at 20 as distinguished from the former rib or webmounting. At the same time, since the elements 56 and 58 may be retainedby the original clamp screws, such as at 48, 50 and 54, these elementsmay be easily removed and the vibrator restored to its former conditionfor rib or web mounting. Also, the invention lends itself to permanentmodification of vibrators, as by replacing the opposed clamp screws, asat 48, 50, by a through fastener, since the ear of each clamping dog isdrilled completely through. In addition to the ability of the inventionto convert existing adapters, it may be provided as an attachment orauxiliary means to production vibrators, still further increasing theversatility of the units.

Having reference to the element or dog 56, it will be seen that therelative lengths of the arms 68 and 70 may be altered so as to provideany desired mechanical advantage. Further, it is desirable that the dogclamping screws 72 and 84 project in parallelism or near parallelism tothe wall 16, thus providing easy access thereto. In the majority ofmounting situations, even slight tightening of the dog screws 72 and 84is suflicient to hold the vibrator in place at least until propertightening is effected, since the clamping arms and 82 engage under thebevelled members 20 in an amount adequate to prevent the vibrator fromfalling off. The positive action of the clamping dogs is superior toreliance on friction, as in the-case of the screws 48, 50, 54 engaging aweb or rib. As a further use, the vibrator may be used with one rlbclamp and one dog clamp, or one dog clamp may be rigidly mounted and theother pivotally mounted to obtain clamping results that will beacceptable in some conditions. Since the construction and operation arerelatively simple, the units maybe handled by inexperienced workmen witha high degree of ease and safety.

I claim:

1. For a vibrator including a unitary body in the form of a casinghaving base means provided with opposite end portions including a pairof integral, dependent spaced apart leg means bifurcated to provide apair of alined downwardly and endwise opening slots for conventionallyreceiving coplanar web portions on an object to be vibrated and each legmeans having clamp means in cluding a threaded bore transverse to theplane of the web portions and carrying a threaded clamping screwprojecting into the associated slot for engagement with the associatedweb portion, the improvement residing in means for adapting the vibratorto span and be secured to a pair of spaced apart mounting members inlieu of the web portions and transverse to the plane thereof. comprisinga pair of clamp elements, each having a portion received by and carriedby the associated clamp means and an integral member-engaging portion,at least one of said elements being pivotable on the axis of theassociated leg means bore, and screw means carried by said one elementand engageable with the vibrator body for rocking said one element tocause said elements to grip said members and in which said one elementis in the form of a bell crank in which the portion received by theassociated clamp means is an intermediate ear projecting into and end ofthe proximate slot, the memher-engaging portion is a downwardlyextending arm of the bell crank and the screw means is carried by theother arm of the bell crank, and said arm extends upwardly at theproximate end portion of the base means.

2. The invention defined in claim 1, in which the other element has anear formed to project into the associated leg means slot for engagementby the associated clamping screw.

3. The invention defined in claim 2, in which both elements aresymmetrical bell cranks and each element ear has a recess therein forpivotally receiving the end of its respective screw.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 396,567 1/1889 Held. 1,970,740 8/1934 Day. 3,128,892 4/1964 Plant 21464.2 3,237,896 3/1966 Peterson248l-l ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner J. FRANKLIN FOSS, AssistantExaminer US Cl. X.R. 248-226

